Arab-Israeli
War of 1948 (1948-1949)--The
First Arab-Israeli War, in which Egypt
acquired the Gaza Strip. Egypt joined
with several other Arab nations in an
invasion of Israel in May, 1948 in
support of Palestinian Arabs fighting
against the newborn Israeli state. See
Arab-Israeli
Wars

Egyptian
Seizure of the Israeli ship Bat
Galim(Summer,
1954)—Egypt seized the Israeli
ship Bat Galim as it attempted
to enter the Suez Canal.
According to various international
agreements, the Suez Canal is supposed
to be accessible to ships of all
nations. This provoked worsening
tensions between Israel and
Egypt.

Israeli
Raid on Gaza (Feb.
28, 1955)—Israeli forces
conducted a raid, a response to
repeated guerrilla attacks and the
seizure of an Israeli ship by Egypt,
which resulted in the deaths of 51
Egyptian soldiers and 8 Israeli
troops. This raid was the largest
of its kind against Arab forces since
the end of the First Arab-Israeli War
in 1949.--See Arab-Israeli
Border Wars

Suez/Sinai
War(1956)--
Since the end of the First War with
Israel, Egypt encouraged Palestinian
raids against the Israelis from Gaza
and Sinai. Israel made plans with
Britain and France to attack Egypt. On
October 29, 1956, Israeli troops
invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and
quickly overcame opposition as they
raced for Suez. The next day, Britain
and France, following suit, in response
to Egypt's nationalization of the Suez
Canal, and on October 31, Egypt was
attacked and invaded by the military
forces of Britain and France. President
Eisenhower of the United States
pressured Britain, France and Israel
into agreeing to a cease-fire and
eventual withdrawal from Egypt.
Militarily, Egypt was defeated by teh
invading allies, but Nasser claimed a
political and moral victory as British,
French, and Israeli forces were forced
to leave Egypt by the Great
Powers.

Arab-Israeli
War of 1967(1967)--
As the underlying tensions between
the Arab nations and Israel remained
unchanged since the First Arab-Israeli
War of 1948-1949, the outbreak of a
third major war was expected. The
introduction of the American-Soviet
competition and arms sales in the
region only accelerated the likelihood
of a Middle Eastern war evolving into a
Cold War confrontation. the immediate
cause of war in 1967 came out of
Egypt's decision to expel United
Nations (UN) troops from the Sinai
peninsula and blockade Israel's port of
Eilat. The UN forces were intended to
form a buffer between the border
separating Israel and Egypt, and their
expulsion led the Israeli government to
fear an imminent attack by Egypt.
Fearing an attack by the Arab states,
Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. In this
lighting war, Israel siezed the Gaza
Strip and Sinai from Egypt, the West
Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan, and the
Golan Heights from Syria. See
Arab-Israeli
Wars

The
War of Attrition
(1968-1970)--Afterthe shockingly quick defeat of the
Arab nations by Israel in the 1967
Six-Day War, Egypt (supported by the
Soviet Union), engaged in a low-level
war of attrition with Israel along the
Suez Canal and in the Sinai region. See
Arab-Israeli
Wars

Arab-Israeli
War of 1973 (1973)--Also
known as the Yom Kippur War by Israel,
as the Ramadan War by the Arab nations,
or simply, as the October War. In
October, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched
a surprise attack on Israeli forces
occupying the Egyptian Sinai, and
Syrian Golan. The Arab nations failed
to defeat Israel, but this war set the
stage for peace negotiations between
Egypt and Israel.See
Arab-Israeli
Wars

Egypt
and Israel signed a peace treaty in
1979. Egypt was the first Arab nation
to make peace with Israel.. In 1982,
per the peace treaty, Israel completed
its withdrawal from the Sinai
Peninsula, and the Sinai once again
came under Egyptian control.

After
the 2011 Egyptian Revolution which
toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak,
security in the Sinai Peninsula
deteriorated rapidly, to the point
where several Islamist and Salafist
militant groups were able to launch
military attacks on both Egyptian
forces and into Israel itself. This has
led to some minor tension between Egypt
and Israel.